The Jaguar XE SV Project 8 has become the fastest sedan to ever lap the Nurburgring, recording a blistering time of 7 minutes and 23 seconds.
The previous record was a 7 min 32 sec set by the Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio but Jaguar managed to slashed a full nine seconds off that record with the hardcore XE SV Project 8 in production-intent specification.
Unlike the Giulia Quadrifoglio which is sold throughout the world and in large numbers, Jaguar will only build 300 examples of the Project 8. Nevertheless, it shows the Germans and Italians that they can’t have the high-performance sedan market all to themselves.
Speaking about the Nurburgring record, Jaguar Land Rover Special Operations managing director John Edwards said, “SVO exists to push the boundaries of performance, luxury and all-terrain capability. The hand-assembled XE SV Project 8 takes that principle to the limit, extracting supercar-beating performance from Jaguar’s most compact four-door sedan. The Nürburgring Nordschleife record underlines our commitment to deliver the most extreme Jaguar ever to Project 8 clients, who will soon experience this sensational sedan for themselves.”
Sitting at the heart of the XE SV Project 8 is a supercharged 5.0-liter V8 engine with 600 PS. Connected exclusively to an eight-speed transmission, the super sedan can accelerate to 60 mph (96 km/h) in just 3.3 seconds and reach a top speed of 200 mph (321 km/h).